This article mentions pop voice specifically, but doesn't delve into the actual physiological phenomena associated with head voice/falsetto, in part because of current limitations at understanding how we make sound. Male head voice and falsetto are related to crico-thyroid (antagonistic muscles to vocal folds) dominant phonation, as opposed to thyro-arytenoid (vocal fold) dominant phonation. The differences from there can be attributed to a number of additional factors, like subglottic air-pressure or pharyngeal shape. If you're interested in further reading or research on the subject, the writings of Richard Miller or Ingo Titze would be great places to explore.
Falsetto in rock has a strong relationship to the low mid content of electric guitars.<p>This means a vocalist needs to get in the upper register to have sonic space.<p>Some of the best rock vocalists of all time, for example axl rose and Chris Cornell, are actually low baritones singing almost exclusively in an idiosyncratic blended falsetto.<p>Related: pre distorted electric guitars, baritones were considered the most attractive in pop music... Elvis was a tenor who sang in the baritone register, I believe.
There's a bit of a debate over the definition of falsetto. It's either synonymous with "head voice," or it's a breathy, disconnected head voice sound. As long as it's connected, with a good singing, you might not even be able to tell where it begins. It's like the difference between Journey and the Bee Gees.
>> Plant is the original metal vocalist<p>Actually, Led Zeppelin are not metal. And it's strange to read an article that praises male metal vocalists for their falsettos without even a passing mention to the indisputable god of all metal falsettists, gay and straight alike, whose name I don't even have to actually say. He is that conspicuous by his absence in that article.<p>Oh, alright. I mean Rob Halford. Who writes an article about falsetto vocalists and leaves out the man who sang this?<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM__lPTWThU" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM__lPTWThU</a> (Painkiller)<p>Or this:<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGkRRdkPTtg" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGkRRdkPTtg</a> (Exciter)<p>Or this:<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tv-e9DJqK4" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tv-e9DJqK4</a> (The Sentinel)<p>Or, well, this:<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_1hLiqwq7c" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_1hLiqwq7c</a> (Heavy Metal)
Makes me think of the “diva dance” song from Fifth Element, which was thought couldn’t be sung.<p>Here it is sung by Dimash Kudaibergen, a 25 yo Kazakh:<p><a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=23HYymUjIHE&t=3m32s" rel="nofollow">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=23HYymUjIHE&t=3m32s</a> (at 3m30s)<p>He is university trained in classical as well as in contemporary music and is known for his wide vocal range of 6 octaves, from D2 to D8 (and 6 octaves and 5 semitones, from A1 to D8, with vocal fry). This spans from the bottom of the bass range beyond the top of the soprano range.<p><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimash_Kudaibergen" rel="nofollow">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimash_Kudaibergen</a><p>You can hear more typical range in the first half of that video.
I find it odd that there is no mention of the counter-tenor voice in classical music. I suppose that a lot of the parts now taken by counter-tenors were originally written for castratos, but there have been quite a few pieces written since those days.
i'm assuming article is resurfacing now because of the vox earworm video from earlier this week. if you haven't seen it yet, it's a good watch (like all the earworm videos)<p><a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/8/13/20801974/we-charted-pop-music-falsetto" rel="nofollow">https://www.vox.com/2019/8/13/20801974/we-charted-pop-music-...</a>
The trick with falsetto is to transition flawlessly to and from. Singers have to work on extending it downward. If you stay in falsetto while reaching for low notes, that's when things can awkwardly falter. There has to be decent overlap with the regular voice ("<i>modal voce</i>"), for easy transitioning.<p>Singing with too much falsetto is annoying; it should just be used to reach a few high notes, IMHO. If someone has to falsetto the whole song, it's in the wrong key or register for them.<p>In the 1970's, supposedly, radio stations used to advertize "Bee-Gee-free weekends", ha.
I can't directly disagree with anything in the article. However it's a bit shocking to me to hear about influential singers using falsetto for parts of their songs and not even a mention John Lennon, Geddy Lee, or Howard Jones in passing.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HQh29nQcvs" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HQh29nQcvs</a>
If you haven't seen this as a viral post years ago, a great example of falsetto.